Thursday, July 18, 2013

Happy Birthday, ALEC: Your BFF, Senator Kirk Dillard.

ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) is coming
to town to celebrate its 40th birthday! Are you invited? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean you
shouldn’t be there.*

There’ll be some legislative
movers and shakers there. Representative
Darlene Senger, Senator Christine Radagno, and Representative Tom Cross: all of them and many more (mostly
Republicans) are members at the state level as Task Force Members for ALEC.
That means that they bring important legislative models drafted by ALEC into the

A metaphor for pretense - Rahmbo.

Springfield General
Assembly for passage into law in Illinois.
Even an “ersatz” Democrat might show up – see picture.

These legislators don’t get
paid for this involvement, at least not exactly, but they do get to take paid-for
sojourns to places far and wide to meet with lawyers and corporate
representatives to help craft proposals and bills that might move the
conservative agenda mission of ALEC
forward at the state level. And, of
course, a corporation awash in money may be able to help someone find support
in this new world of Citizens United to get serious backing come next
election. More about that later.

“ALEC is a corporate bill mill. It is NOT just a lobby (like the NRA) or a
front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state
legislators their wish lists to benefit the bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC’s
operations” (http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Illinois_ALEC_Politicians).

ALEC Task Force Member Senger

The state chairman in Illinois for ALEC is Kirk
Dillard, a Senator from Hinsdale (of
all places), who has just recently announced his intention to run once again
for the office of Governor for the State of Illinois. Last time around, Senator Dillard lost the
primary by only 193 votes to Senator Bill Brady of Bloomington. But Dillard is unmoved and ready to be “all
in” for this next battle for leadership in our state. He outlined for the Chicago Tribune his
inability to run for another seat in the Senate this next year, given the
timing of his run in the gubernatorial race, which will prevent his political
office holding if he is defeated in the primary or the election.

According to Dillard, had he
been elected last time as the Governor, we would not be facing the nearly $100
billion deficit in pension spending we now face. Of course, Dillard is careful not to mention
that the deficit is actually money reneged from the necessary payments from
other Republicans like himself (Jim Thompson and his supporter Jim Edgar). Dillard says that he voted for SB1, and
Madian would have worked better with him than Quinn.

ALEC Chair Renee Kosel

The other Chair for ALEC in Illinois is Representative Renee Kosel of
Mokena. One imagines both Kosel and
Dillard are ecstatic about the upcoming birthday of their ideological patrons. They may even desire to celebrate the origin
and backers of the ALEC foundation,
although quite honestly the Koch brothers (Charles & David) are often
careful to avoid the limelight, preferring to work behind the scenes, greasing
the legislative wheels with hundreds of millions of dollars to promote the
agendas their father tutored them in their youthful and impressionable years.

Fred C. Koch was a self-made
man worthy of being admired by Kirk Dillard, Renee Kosel, or Ayn Rand. His inventive genius at finding a new
cracking method to turn crude into gasoline was the darling of the world, until
his patents were challenged in the United States. This kept him at bay for nearly fifteen
years. Enter stage left the Stalinist Soviet Union, which gave him millions to
build cracking plants in the USSR and millions more to teach technicians in the
United States how to make gasoline from the multitudinous reserves below the
Russian permafrost.

ALEC - Health & Human Services?

Despite the mega-generous
returns on his assistance, once he returned from Russia, the elder Koch decided
Communism was an evil that must be destroyed at all costs, and when one (or his
sons) have $billions, that means pretty much spare change.

And the elder Mr. Koch became
a leader in the arena of conservative reform movements – very conservative
reform movements. He assisted in providing
the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission money to support their war against
federal encroachment or the attempt to force racial desegregation. (http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/). He became a heavy contributor and founding
father of the John Birch Society (http://www.jbs.org/fred-koch).

Tom Cross - Civil Justice & Stand Your Ground

In fact, some of his speeches
resonate strangely with the kind of speech one hears from the Tea Party leaders
of today as well as the Birthers that often denounce Obama’s presidency. “ Koch alerted that Communists “would
infiltrate the highest offices of government in the United States until the President
is a Communist, unknown to the rest of us” (http://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bhlead/umich-bhl-2009039?rgn=main;view=text
). Sound familiar?

Of course, Senator Dillard is careful – like his
other ALEC partners in the State of Illinois
– to be discreet when it comes to this kind of political connection, unless it
is unobtrusive and controlled, but, alas, events these last few months have
left all of us wondering about ALEC
and those who might support them, or in turn be supported by ALEC.

ALEC Civil Justice/Stand Your Ground

After the NRA was able to lobby successfully to
pass the Stand Your Ground Law in
Florida in 2005, ALEC adopted the
same law as a “model” for other states, sharing the outline with legislators
who participated in their “think-tank legislative getaways.” Twenty-six other states have adopted the same
kinds of laws. But now ALEC (like the NRA) is trying to distance itself from the Stand Your Ground Law, saying that their support sunset a few years
ago. Notice also how quiet the NRA has been about the law that ALEC later supported?

ALEC members
like Chapin Rose, Tom Cross, and, yes, KIRK DILLARD are Task Force Members on
the same Civil Justice committees that proposed and endorsed the Stand Your Ground bills that passed in
Florida and 26 other states.

With ALEC in mind, a very unsettling Senator Dillard has changes in mind
in Illinois and he warns us that he’s all in.
Indeed, he plans to make serious and, if necessary, severe changes to
issues of pensions, Metra, conceal and carry, and abortions. That’s worrisome.

The Koch brothers and ALEC would include all taxes, all
regulations on business, the dangers of unions, the Federal Reserve, Social
Security, the Affordable Care Act, the minimum wage, voting rights, and other
national issues; but as Governor, Senator Dillard can do much to help their
forward progress in small steps – just like Scott Walker did for them in
Wisconsin.

About Me

I am a retiree, political activist, social advocate and community volunteer. I taught at Lyons Township High School in LaGrange for 34 years in the Language Arts classroom and worked as an administrator for several years. My current avocations include various community outreach and assistance programs. Having benefitted from employment in a collegial, reflective teaching environment that encouraged dedication and professionalism, I continue to seek the promotion of education at all levels as a long-term effort combining talent, perseverance, commitment, and constant professional growth - not a blind adherence to a business model of measured production.

Copyrights & Fair Use

This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material available in my efforts to advance understanding of issues vital to a democracy. I believe this constitutes a “fair use” of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law.